History made: Anastasija Zolotic becomes first Team USA woman to win taekwondo gold

TOKYO (WFLA/AP) — Florida native Anastasija Zolotic won the gold medal for taekwondo women’s 57kg in Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Zolotic is the first American to win the gold for taekwondo since Steven Lopez won the Olympic taekwondo title in 2004. The 18-year-old fighter beat Russia’s Tatiana Minina with a score of 25 to 17.

Zolotic had been telling friends and family since early childhood that she would be an Olympic champion and she needed only one trip to the Games to make it happen.

United States’s Anastasija Zolotic celebrates as she holds her country national flag after winning a gold medal for the taekwondo women’s 57kg match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

This brings the U.S. medal total to four gold, two silver, and four bronze. One of those two silver medals was won Saturday night by Sarasota native Emma Weyant.